Strange Web
by Meshakhad
Summary: The Trust attempts to take over the Rossum Corporation, but nobody has any idea what they're getting into.


A/N: I'm moving the timeframe of Dollhouse to line it up with SG-1 Season Nine. From the Dollhouse perspective, this takes place after "Belonging" and before "The Public Eye".

I own nothing. Joss Whedon owns Dollhouse. SyFy owns Stargate.

Also, while this is listed as specifically a crossover with _Stargate SG-1_, it also includes characters from _Stargate Atlantis_ and _Stargate Universe_. I would consider it a general Dollhouse/Stargate Crossover.

* * *

"It's locked," Echo said.

"Can you pick it?" Paul Ballard asked.

"One moment." Echo closed her eyes and inhaled. Her entire body tensed, and relaxed. She opened her eyes. "Now I can."

She took a bobby pin from her hair, and stuck it in the lock. Within seconds, the door was open.

"Blue skies," she smiled.

Boyd Langton's apartment wasn't what Ballard expected. He had thought of Langton as a kindred spirit, and assumed it would be similar to Ballard's own – austere, slightly disorganized, maybe some clothes lying around.

Not only was it larger than Ballard's, it was decorated way better. The kitchen countertops were granite. The TV was the latest widescreen model. One wall was decorated with three framed photos. The one on the left had Ballard and his former police teammates posing together, all in uniform. In the middle, there was the Los Angeles skyline. And on the right, the legendary picture of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road. Ballard would never forget the day he walked into the security office, only to hear "Yellow Submarine" playing on the speakers.

His mind moved to investigator. He saw Echo do the same, only in a different manner. He hadn't told Adelle yet about Echo's ability to shift into previous imprints. Topher had imprinted her with Roma Klar, an FBI agent like Ballard. This was the one she was currently using. To break into the house, she had shifted to a cat burglar persona.

The first thing that was out of place was, well, that nothing was out of place. One peek at the living room carpet, and sure enough: vacuum lines. Langton had recently cleaned up.

The reason became clear when Ballard found the back porch. A small table was covered in a white tablecloth. There was a bottle of champagne, balsamic vinegar dressing, and plates that had recently been eaten on. A romantic dinner. And if Boyd and his date hadn't cleared their places, they were probably in the…

"Paul!"

Ballard followed Echo's voice to the bedroom.

"It's Dr. Saunders," she said. Sure enough, Dr. Saunders was lying in bed with Boyd Langton. They looked like they were sleeping. Ballard was hesitant to approach, but Roma Klar had far fewer inhibitions in that department. Echo leaned over the bed and touched their necks.

"They're dead. Both of them."

"Any sign of how?" Ballard asked.

Echo tore off the covers. Ballard was more surprised than he should have been to see them both naked.

"Well, judging by the position, I'd say they died in their sleep," Echo noted. "But for both of them to die like this…"

"Poison?"

"Only thing that makes sense. Let's get these back to the lab, run an autopsy."

* * *

"…_Clive Ambrose's body was found off of Route 66 this morning. With this death, all of the Rossum Corporation's top executives are either dead or missing. The company's stock has plunged as a result…"_

Adelle muted the TV when she heard the phone ring.

"What is it?" she picked it up.

"_I have the autopsy results,"_ Victor's voice came through._ "Both victims died of the same cause. Their food was doped with a slow-acting poison. They probably have felt fatigued, fell asleep, and never woke up."_

"Thank you." She put down the phone.

This was not a good day. Her head of security, along with her former doctor, had just been murdered. At the same time, the entire leadership at the Rossum Corporation – everyone who had contact with the Dollhouse, in fact – had been taken out.

In a crisis, the first order of business was to protect the house. She dialed Topher.

"_Hello?"_ Ivy said.

"Where is Topher?"

"_Bathroom. Why?"_

"I need you to contact our handlers in the field. Cancel all engagements. Then call all off-duty personnel and bring them to the Dollhouse. We're going on lockdown."

* * *

Alpha smiled at the TV. He had to admire their work. Eliminating eighteen corporate executives in 24 hours, that took skill. The culprit had admitted their guilt just an hour ago, but nobody knew.

The annihilation of the Rossum executive leadership yesterday had, not surprisingly, sent the company's stock into freefall. Then, one hour ago, a man by the name of Charles Ball had proposed to buy the company and place it under new leadership. According to the press release, Ball was a South African investor who had popped up a year ago, and operated a consortium that now owned large shares in many corporations in many industries. Those companies had prospered, and he could surely help Rossum recover from this.

An hour ago, that's all Alpha knew. Now he knew more. He knew that the persona of "Charles Ball" was completely invented, though his real identity eluded Alpha. He knew that the Ball Consortium was in fact a front for an organization called the Trust, which had ties to governments around the world and was connected to the disappearance of numerous corporate executives.

Putting two and two together, it was patently obvious – Charles Ball had assassinated the Rossum leadership in order to take it over. Rossum was the largest pharmaceutical company in America, and while the head was gone, the body was still there. Rossum's assets, its scientists, its products, all remained intact. A brilliant plan.

However, by taking out the executives Ball had also eliminated anyone with knowledge of Rossum's most valuable asset – the Dollhouses. In all likelihood, Ball had no knowledge of the ties between Rossum and the Dollhouse. If he did, he would probably use his resources to find and eliminate Alpha. Alpha's varied personalities disagreed on many things, but they all agreed that this would be a bad thing.

So Alpha had formulated a plan. From his hiding place, he sent out two things. One was a potent computer worm, sent through cyberspace to Rossum's mainframe in Tucson. It would completely wipe the mainframe, eliminating everything from employee records to research data… to the only remaining tie between Rossum and the Dollhouses. As a fun bonus, it would also inform several of Rossum's more profitable research teams know that as part of the takeover, they were being let go due to poor performance. Oh, some would be hired back, maybe most, but combined with the loss of electronic records, everyone would be thrown into confusion.

The other was a package, sent through the US Postal System to the Dollhouse in Los Angeles. It contained what information Alpha had learned so far. Hopefully, they would decide to go after the Trust, which would not only keep everyone away from him, but provide a great deal of entertainment.


End file.
